Fundamental

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fundamental \Fun"da*men`tal\, n.
     A leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which
     serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part, as, the
     fundamentals of the Christian faith.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fundamental \Fun`da*men"tal\, a. [Cf. F. fondamental.]
     Pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the
     foundation. Hence: Essential, as an element, principle, or
     law; important; original; elementary; as, a fundamental
     truth; a fundamental axiom.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           The fundamental reasons of this war.     --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Some fundamental antithesis in nature.   --Whewell.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Fundamental bass} (Mus.), the root note of a chord; a bass
        formed of the roots or fundamental tones of the chords.
  
     {Fundamental chord} (Mus.), a chord, the lowest tone of which
        is its root.
  
     {Fundamental colors}, red, green, and violet-blue. See
        {Primary colors}, under {Color}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  fundamental
       adj 1: serving as an essential component; "a cardinal rule"; "the
              central cause of the problem"; "an example that was
              fundamental to the argument"; "computers are
              fundamental to modern industrial structure" [syn: {cardinal},
               {central}, {key}, {primal}]
       2: being or involving basic facts or principles; "the
          fundamental laws of the universe"; "a fundamental
          incompatibility between them"; "these rudimentary truths";
          "underlying principles" [syn: {rudimentary}, {underlying}]
       3: far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect especially on the
          nature of something; "the fundamental revolution in human
          values that has occurred"; "the book underwent fundamental
          changes"; "committed the fundamental error of confusing
          spending with extravagance"; "profound social changes"
          [syn: {profound}]
       n : the lowest tone of a harmonic series [syn: {fundamental
           frequency}, {first harmonic}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  239 Moby Thesaurus words for "fundamental":
     AF, ab ovo, abecedarian, aboriginal, antenatal, audio frequency,
     austere, autochthonous, axiom, bare, basal, base, basement, basic,
     basilar, basis, bearing wall, bed, bedding, bedrock, beginning,
     bench mark, bottom, budding, cardinal, cardinal point, center,
     central, chaste, chief thing, climax, component, constituent,
     constitutional, constitutive, core, cornerstone, creative, crisis,
     critical, critical point, crucial, crux, dominant, element,
     elemental, elementary, elements, elixir, embryonic, essence,
     essential, essential matter, factor, fetal, first, floor, flooring,
     flower, focal, focus, fond, footing, formative, foundation,
     foundational, frequency, fundament, fundamental tone, generative,
     genetic, germinal, gestatory, gist, grammar, gravamen, great point,
     ground, grounds, groundwork, gut, hardpan, harmonic, heart,
     high point, homely, homespun, homogeneous, hypostasis, important,
     important thing, in embryo, in its infancy, in ovo, in the bud,
     inaugural, inceptive, inchoate, inchoative, incipient, incunabular,
     indispensable, indivisible, infant, infantile, inherent, initial,
     initiative, initiatory, inner essence, intonation, intrinsic,
     introductory, inventive, irreducible, issue, kernel, keystone,
     landmark, law, life-and-death, life-or-death, main, main point,
     main thing, marrow, material, material point, meat, mere,
     milestone, monolithic, monotone, monotony, nascent, natal,
     necessary, needful, nub, nucleus, nuts and bolts, of a piece,
     of the essence, of vital importance, organic, original, overtone,
     paramount, part and parcel, partial, partial tone, parturient,
     pavement, pitch, pith, pivot, plain, postnatal, postulate,
     pregnant, prenatal, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive,
     primogenial, primordial, principal, principium, principle,
     principles, pristine, procreative, protogenic, pure,
     pure and simple, quid, quiddity, quintessence, quintessential,
     radical, real issue, requisite, riprap, rock bottom, rudiment,
     rudimental, rudimentary, rudiments, rule, salient point, sap, seat,
     seminal, severe, sill, simon-pure, simple, sine qua non, single,
     solid ground, solid rock, soul, spare, spirit, stark, stereobate,
     stuff, stylobate, substance, substantial, substantive,
     substantive point, substratum, substruction, substructure,
     terra firma, the bottom line, the nitty-gritty, the point, theorem,
     tone, tonelessness, turning point, unadorned, uncluttered,
     underbuilding, undercarriage, undergirding, underlying,
     underpinning, understruction, understructure, undifferenced,
     undifferentiated, uniform, ur, vital